TYT MD-9600 / Retevis RT-90 : Experimental version

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VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

TYT MD-9600 / Retevis RT-90 : Experimental version

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:13 am

Colin G4EML, Daniel and I are currently porting the firmware to the TYT MD9600 mobile DMR / FM radio.
This project has been ongoing for 3 months, but actually started over a year ago, when I investigated porting the code to to various other TYT radios that use the STM32 CPU.



Could any forum members own a MD9600 and would be willing to test an Alpha version of the firmware, please reply to this thread, and I will then contact you via email with more details about the current status of the firmware etc.

The firmware is a direct port of the OpenGD77 firmware, so all the menus etc and the display is the same
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However the physical display on the MD9600 uses rectangular pixels, so the text and other graphics are stretched horizontally, slightly

We are not supporting the MD9600 codeplug format as its completely different from even the offical GD77 codeplug format.
The firmware uses the GD77 codeplug format and hence we can use the OpenGD77 CPS


Currently most major functions work, but may have small problems

FM Tx and Rx is working
DMR Tx and Rx is working
Satellite mode is working. GPS versions are also supported, however I don't have a radio with a GPS, only Colin has a GPS radio, so I have not been able to test this functionality.


The MD9600 does not have many of the buttons which the GD77 has.
It does not have the Left or Right buttons, on either the front panel of the radio or the mic keypad, it also does not have the SK1 and SK2 buttons.
Instead it has 4 buttons on the front panel P1 to P4

Currently the UI control of the radio is a work in progress, while we try to find the best combination of available buttons on the MD9600 to replace the SK1, SK2 , Left and Right buttons.

Because of the difference in buttons, some functions currently don't work, including Monitor mode, and QuickKeys, as well as pressing SK2 to change Tx TG to match the currently received TG.


The hardware in the MD9600 almost completely different from the GD77. The only chip that the 2 radios have in common is the C6000 DMR DSP chip.

* The CPU in the MD9600 is a ST STM32F4 device, whereas the GD77 uses a NXP MK22. These CPUs are from completely different manufacturers, and have to be programmed completely differently.

* The MD9600 does not use the AT1846S RF chip as used in the GD77, it has descrete PLL chips, mixers , IF chips and detector circuits.

* The MD9600 does not have an EEPROM for high speed data storage it only has a single 16Mb Flash chip. However the STM32F4 CPU has some battery backed RAM which was have been able to use to store the settings that are stored in the EEPROM of the GD77

* The display is effectively the same number of pixels as the GD77, 128 x 64, and the display controller uses the same data format, however the pixels are rectangular not square which results in the fonts etc looking slighly different. This is unavoidable and we can't change the font to make the text look thinner as there is not enough display resolution

* For Tx, the MD9600 uses the DMR DSP chip for FM as well as for DMR. The DMR DSP chip can also be used or FM Rx but the official firmware only uses it for Tx. However we are also using it to detect CTCSS on Rx signals, though not using it for Rx audio at the moment.


Currently the firmware still has as large number of bugs and various bits of functionality which don't work at all.

ON6XX
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by ON6XX » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:39 pm

Hello Roger and Co. I own an MD9600 old PLL (version 3 gps). I might want to test the alpha version. Greetings Patrick

VK3KYY
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:25 pm

Nicolas_Rousseau wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:16 pm
Hello, I have two MD9600 V1 and V3.
I can test the beta version.
Cordially.
Nicolas.
Thanks

I don't think we tested on V1 hardware.

. I can email you the V2,V4 and V5 firmware files.

The V2 build which should work with the V3 hardware and possibly the V1

What office firmware version are you using, and do you have a copy of that firmware, in case you need to reinstall it ?

G4EML
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by G4EML » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:48 pm

V1,V2 and V3 are all essentially the same as far as the firmware is concerned. Use the V2 firmware.

No harm will be caused if the wrong firmware is loaded. The radio will just not receive or transmit.

Colin.

VK3KYY
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:03 pm

OK.

I wanted to make sure you have a way to reload your radio back to the official firmware

I will send you an email

BTW. What is your callsign?

VK3KYY
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:09 pm

Nicolas_Rousseau wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:06 pm
I’m not on call right now. I’m working on my license.

Cordially.

Nicolas.
OK. I'm not sure how you will be able to test this for ham radio use if you don't have a license.

The firmware is not suitable for commerical use and invalidates the type rating and certification etc on the hardware.

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YT5HOK
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by YT5HOK » Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:29 am

Hey Roger! Great news! Thank you guys for your effort(s). :)

I hope I'm not too late to apply for testing...? MD-9600 V3 (old PLL) non-GPS.

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EA5SW
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by EA5SW » Fri Dec 31, 2021 1:40 pm

I have an MD9600, later update my versions

VK3KYY
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:41 pm

YT5HOK wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:29 am
Hey Roger! Great news! Thank you guys for your effort(s). :)

I hope I'm not too late to apply for testing...? MD-9600 V3 (old PLL) non-GPS.
Not too late

I will email you

VK3KYY
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Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
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Re: TYT MD9600

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:42 pm

EA5SW wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 1:40 pm
I have an MD9600, later update my versions
I will email you

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